In Re JRC

522 S.W.2d 579, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 2632
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 15, 1975
Docket8279
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 522 S.W.2d 579 (In Re JRC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re JRC, 522 S.W.2d 579, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 2632 (Tex. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

522 S.W.2d 579 (1975)

In the Matter of J. R. C.

No. 8279.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, Texarkana.

April 15, 1975.
Rehearing Denied April 29, 1975.

*580 Ronald Ned Dennis, Kirkpatrick, Grant, Dennis & Reed, Marshall, for appellant.

Sam Baxter, Crim. Dist. Atty., Marshall, for appellee.

CHADICK, Chief Justice.

The Criminal District Attorney of Harrison County, Texas, filed a petition in the Juvenile Court of such county in which it was represented to the court ". . . that because of the seriousness of the offense, the welfare of the community requires that the Juvenile Court waive jurisdiction and have J. R. C.[*] transferred to the 71st Judicial District Court for criminal proceedings . . .". In five subsequent paragraphs the instrument alleged the grounds for waiver of jurisdiction and transfer. Notice, summons, and procedures prerequisite to a valid hearing are unquestioned. A hearing ensued which is fully reported in the statement of facts and transcript in the appeal record. At the conclusion of the hearing the juvenile judge entered the following order:

"On the 2nd day of July, 1974, came on to be considered the petition complaining of J. R. C., whom the Court finds to be a child born on the 3rd day of September, 1958, and being 15 years of age at the time the act upon which the petition is founded is alleged to have occurred and at the present time being 15 years of age, and the Court further finds that said act would be a felony under the laws of the State of Texas if committed by an adult, and the Court after diagnostic study, social evaluation and full investigation, is of the opinion that it is contrary to the best interest of said child and to the public to retain jurisdiction. And the Court, after taking judicial notice of the trial by jury to determine fitness to proceed and the verdict returned by the jury in such hearing on the 11th day of June, 1974, is of the opinion that the following order should be entered:

"THEREFORE, I, Don Stokes, Judge of the Juvenile Court of Harrison County, Texas, hereby certify said child, J. R. C., to the Criminal District Court of Harrison County, Texas, for proper criminal proceedings and included herein and made a part of this certification is this written order, the same being the findings of the Judge of the Juvenile Court of Harrison County, Texas, and said certification is hereby accompanied by a complaint against the said child accusing him of a felony offense, to-wit: Murder, of which said offense the said Criminal District Court has jurisdiction.

"It is further ORDERED of the said Juvenile Court of Harrison County, Texas, *581 that the Clerk of the said Juvenile Court transmit forthwith to the Criminal District Court of Harrison County, Texas, this written order and findings of said Juvenile Court of Harrison County, Texas, and said complaint attached hereto."

Court appointed counsel for J. R. C. have briefed fifteen points of error which they agree presents two basic questions for decision. It is insisted first that the hearing was not conducted in accordance with V.T.C.A. Tex. Family Code, Sec. 54.02 because the juvenile judge did not make inquiry into and consider the matters assigned for consideration in Subsection (f) thereof and failed to state specific reasons for waiver as required by Subsection (h). Second, sufficiency of evidence to support the findings of the Juvenile Court is the issue.

Delinquent children and children in need of supervision are the subjects of special statutory law in Texas. V.T.C.A. Tex. Family Code, Title III. Waiver of the Juvenile Courts' exclusive original jurisdiction of proceedings in this field (and transfer of a child to an appropriate district or Criminal District Court for criminal proceedings) must be determined in a statutory judicial proceeding in accordance with procedure statutorily prescribed. The relevant statute or statutes must be complied with in detail. 1, Tex.Jur.2d Actions, Section 84; V.T.C.A., Tex. Family Code, Section 51.01(5). In construing a similar enactment the United States Supreme Court in Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541, 86 S.Ct. 1045, 16 L.Ed.2d 84 (1966) declared that determination of whether or not to transfer a child from the statutory structure of the Juvenile Court to the criminal processes of the District Court is "critically important". The court there approved language of another court saying that it ". . . is implicit in [the Juvenile Court] scheme that noncriminal treatment is to be the rule—and the adult criminal treatment, the exception which must be governed by the particular factors of individual cases." And in further discussion of the District of Columbia's Juvenile Court Act, which is identical in part and otherwise closely resembles the Texas enactment, the Supreme Court's majority opinion said: "The theory of the District's Juvenile Court Act, like that of other jurisdictions, is rooted in social welfare philosophy rather than in the corpus juris. Its proceedings are designated as civil rather than criminal. The Juvenile Court is theoretically engaged in determining the needs of the child and of society rather than adjudicating criminal conduct. The objectives are to provide measures of guidance and rehabilitation for the child and protection for society, not to fix criminal responsibility, guilt and punishment. The State is parens patriae rather than prosecuting attorney and judge." The issues in this case must be discussed within the frame of reference of these principles as they are affected by the Legislature's sometime quixotic activities in this field.

Initially, notice must be taken of the provisions of the Family Code as they touch upon the questions before this court. On the subject of waiver and transfer to criminal courts, the code provided in part as follows:

"54.02 Waiver of Jurisdiction and Discretionary Transfer to Criminal Court

(a) The juvenile court may waive its exclusive original jurisdiction and transfer a child to the appropriate district court or criminal district court for criminal proceedings if:

(1) the child is alleged to have violated a penal law of the grade of felony;

(2) the child was 15 years of age or older at the time he is alleged to have committed the offense and no adjudication hearing has been conducted concerning that offense; and

(3) after full investigation and hearing the juvenile court determines that because of the seriousness of the offense or the background of the child the welfare of the community requires criminal proceedings.

*582 (b) * * *
(c) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) * * *

(f) In making the determination required by Subsection (a) of this section, the court shall consider, among other matters:

(1) whether the alleged offense was against person or property, with greater weight in favor of transfer given to offenses against the person;

(2) whether the alleged offense was committed in an aggressive and premeditated manner;

(3) whether there is evidence on which a grand jury may be expected to return an indictment;

(4) the sophistication and maturity of the child;

(5) the record and previous history of the child; and

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570 S.W.2d 238 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1978)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
522 S.W.2d 579, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 2632, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-jrc-texapp-1975.